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Friday, May 9, 2014

SEE CHEE HOW'S SPEECH: DUN 5-15 MAY 2014

Speech text of N.11 Batu Lintang
State Assemblyman See Chee How, on 09 May 2014, debating on the Motion of Appreciation
on the address of His Excellency, Tuan Yang Di-Pertua Negeri

Datuk Amar Speaker,

Thank you for giving me this
opportunity to participate in the debate of the Motion of Appreciation on the
address of His Excellency, Tuan Yang Di-Pertua Negeri, delivered on the 5 of
May 2014.

I would like to join all my fellow
Honourable Members in this august House to congratulate His Excellency, Tuan
Yang Terutama Yang Di-Pertua Negeri Sarawak and the Right Honourable member for
N.3 Tanjung Datu for their respective appointment as the Governor, and the
Chief Minister of Sarawak.

Datuk Amar Speaker,

On the 6th of May, before
this great Assembly, the bells proclaim the joyous tidings of the quietly
awakening Sarawakians.

Indeed, I am proud to be a member
of this august House which had unanimously voted in favour of a motion
supporting the continuous effort by the state government to request for a
revision of the tripartite agreement entered into between the federal
government, state government and Petronas, and seek consideration of the
federal government to increase the oil and gas royalty payment from the present
5% to 20%, or other reasonable and favourable form of arrangements to the
benefits of Sarawak State so as to accelerate more development programmes
particularly in the rural areas in the state of Sarawak.

From both sides of this Honourable
Dewan, we have stated our stances, we have expressed our differences, as we
agree to disagree. What matters most, in the end, is that this august House has
reached a consensus to unanimously voted for the motion, as all Sarawakians
have expected us to do.

I cherished the moment when all our
Honourable members in this Dewan raised their hands instantaneously when we
were called upon to vote on the motion. It was the moment that we are telling
all Sarawakians and others that when it comes to safeguarding and advancing the
interests of our fair land Sarawak, all our Honourable members in this august
House are, I quote, “Sarawakian First”.

Datuk Amar Speaker

This motion, which I liken it to a
proclamation, is a historical landmark.

It has brought out the Edmund Burke
in each and every one of the Honourable members in this august House, that we
are not just a member for a constituency, but a member of this great
deliberative Sarawak State Assembly.

“20 percent oil and gas royalty for
Sarawak”, those words were first a dream, a hope, then a belief, now a promise,
and soon it will be a reality.

For this august House and all our
Honourable members, let me share my train of thoughts in these verses:

Sarawak First

Unmindful if it could materialize

Treasured is the thought it ever
exists

All is well if the heart dances in
dreams

Moments I wish are eternity in this
august House

When hands are raised in unison and
one accord

My heart resonates like never
before

It warms the dark recess of mind

Fire up with love and hope entwined

It lights through the long dark
night

It is like morning shining bright

Only in beautiful land of endless
bliss

Enticing is a dream where hope lies

Only beauty, bliss and peace will
know

Where our dream home lies,

In anticipation for faithful and
united hearts

Who anchored so many hopes upon our
Fair Land Sarawak.

Datuk Amar Speaker,

The Motion, is a significant
landmark.

The ringing of the bells that
proclaim our joyous tidings has immediately reached the shores of Sabah and
Kelantan, and soonest in Trengganu.

There will be those who are skeptical. But, under
the present political circumstance and development, I believe that good sense
will prevail. Indeed, it is a gross injustice that can no longer stand to
reason when the 4 oil producing states in the country, having collectively
contributed some 48% of the federal government’s revenue, remain the poorest
and least developed in the country.

I remain optimistic. If the 4 states are in sync,
the parties in the tripartite agreement are able to and can readily act to
discuss the motion. Afterall, Petronas is wholly owned by the federal
government.

I am hopeful that the Right Honourable Chief
Minister will take a pro-active approach in initiating meetings of the parties
involved and to regularly report to this Honourable Dewan on the progress and
development of such meetings.

Datuk Amar Speaker,

Affordable
Housing

On issues affecting the State, I
must applaud the Honourable Housing Minister’s proposal to build 50,000
affordable housing under the 11th Malaysia Plan, reported in the local dailies
on 12 April 2014.

Meeting the needs and demands for
affordable housing is a problem faced by all governments everywhere, and
Sarawak is no exception.

And while affordability vary
greatly, in denotations, according to different income groups, I wish to draw
the attention of the Honourable Minister to a specific group of Sarawakians,
who are from the families in the lower income stratum.

For the interests and welfare of
these low-income earning families, I am sure our Honourable Minister of Housing
would agree with me that there be no partisan politics in our efforts to look
after them.

Basically from the lowest stratum
of our society, this is the group of families in which there is no possibility
of them being able to attain the basic necessities, if the government and
public sector does not step in and intervene to uplift their social-economic
status. But before we can do our part to uplift their well beings, we must know
who they are and where they are. In the case of housing, we must turn to the
squatter families, as an obvious target group. While some may point to the
existence of pseudo squatters, I would like to believe that no individual would
like or want to live in uninhabitable conditions with their families.

I am sure the Honourable Minister
will also agree with me that we must protect this most vulnerable group of
families within our society. But has the government conducted any survey to identify
how many squatter families as determined to be so by the government, exist in
each division of Sarawak and where are they in each of the Divisions? The
number should include those dwelling on state land, as well as titled land.
What have been the figure in terms of families, the average family size and the
family-income situation over the past 10 years? Are the numbers increasing or
decreasing over these past 10-20 years? How many of them have been settled into
public housing, as tenants and or owners?

Then has the government any formal
process to register families defined as squatters so that they can be
automatically entered into the register as priority for public housing? If
there is, can the Minister make it available to all Districts so that all
relevant local authorities can be tasked to accept registration? If not, will
the government consider introducing such a system?

My respectful concern herein is to
try to get an understanding as to how the government ascertain the demands for
various categories of public housing needed over each Malaysia Plan. Recalling
the Honourable Minister’s announcement of 50,000 affordable housing needed in
the 11th Malaysia Plan, the Minister must provide breakdown of
number of units as demanded by different categories of “affordable” housing.

Then we can know what is the demand
ascertained by the government for each category of housing and this can be
matched with the number of squatter families identified by the government. So
can the Minister provide details for the past 10 years and what lessons had
been learned to bring about the 50,000 numbers in the 11th Malaysia Plan? Can
the Minister provide statistics over the past 10 years in each Division of
Sarawak whereby the demand had been met or not and if not, which Division had
not been met?

Datuk Amar Speaker,

I want this august House to note
that we in this part of the Dewan stand ready to support and assist the
government in its difficult task of housing especially Sarawakians at the
bottom economic stratum of the society. But we will be handicapped if we are
not able to get the necessary data and statistics to enable us to provide input
into the debate.

Following from this, I would like
to seek clarification from the Honourable Minister in regard to state criteria
to qualify for each category of public housing paid with tax-payers’ money,
especially related to those being proposed in the 11th Malaysia Plan.

In this aspect, can the Minister
states the names or terms of all Federal and State housing schemes available to
the low-income families in Sarawak and the target groups with qualifying
criteria for each scheme as contained in the proposed 50,000 units?

I would also call upon the
Honourable Minister to provide the breakdown in numbers of all Federal and
State housing schemes planned and delivered in each of the Divisions in Sarawak
over the past 10 years and how the schemes comprise of 50,000 units in the 11th
Malaysia plan will differ from those of the past 10 years?

Further, I wish that the Minister
will give details as to the number of units and year of completion of the Federal
and State housing schemes which are meant for rental and tenancy only that had
been built in each of the divisions in Sarawak over the past 10 years and what
has been the occupancy or take-up rate for each scheme in each division?

50 years after our independence,
the public housing provided by the government and private sector must have been
enormous, and Sarawak should have the expertise in quality developers and
contractors in this regulated housing industry.

We applaud the government for
intervening to make provisions for those left out of the housing market system.
And on this note, I humbly seek the indulgence of the Honourable Minister to
provide this Dewan with the numbers and names of developers, both in the public
and private sectors, who have been awarded and designated to construct public
low-cost housing for poor Sarawakians families over the past 10 years and the
number of units each of these developers and contractors have delivered in each
division of Sarawak over the past 10 years? And further, the project costs and
whether any of these projects have remained uncompleted.

Datuk Amar Speaker,

Allow me to comment on the question of remedial
work to be carried out on the damages to roads and drains caused by the developer
and contractors in implementing the Kuching Centralized Sewerage Systems.

I would like to invite the Honourable Minister
and his able Assistant Minister to make a trip to Green Road, more particularly
the stretch of Green Road from the junction with Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce
to the junction with Jalan Satok.

The work on the sewerage systems along this road
had been completed for months, but the remedial works for the road and the
drainage system is most unsatisfactory. The stretch of road has become
dangerous and the drains are blocked permanently causing flooding to the road,
the adjoining lanes and the residential houses in the vicinity every time it
rains.

Honourable Assistant Minister had told this
august House yesterday that there are guidelines for the remedial works to be
carried out after the various sections of the projects have been completed. The
remedial works carried out at this stretch of Green Road certainly reflects
badly on the guidelines of this project.

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